term paper MALL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mobile Assisted Language Learning

Aysha Ali

King Khalid University

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  This paper discusses the attitude of EFL learners in King Khalid University toward the use of technology for learning English language and the challenges they face. Mobile devices have helped students to learn and improve their proficiency and skills of the language and this contribution have appeared after the retraction of CALL in this field. Nowadays, mobile devices become more popular than the computers and personal computers. The paper presents a brief view from previous studies that have presented the significant role of mobile devices in the field of language learning. Then the data of the current study, which was collected by distributing a questionnaire, will be presented. This questionnaire consists two separate sections, the first part investigates students' attitudes toward MALL and the second section investigates the challenges that students face when they use mobile devices for language learning. The results of this study are presented by showing the percentages of the respondents' answers. The study proves the positive attitude toward using technology to enhance language learning and presents some challenges face the EFL learners.

Keywords: EFL learners, technology, MALL, language learning.

 

Literature review

                 Previously, the concept of learning and teaching was restrained in classrooms as the traditional environments for teaching. Beale (2007) states that teachers were teaching and presenting the new information for their students by using text books and chalkboards. (as cited in Gholami & Azarmi, 2012) Actually, this is not the case of the learning and teaching after the appearance of computers and the internet the educational environments have changed. Chapelle  (2008) explains the fundamental role of technology in second and additional language learning and he states that it is difficult todays to discuss language curriculums without considering the options offered by CD-ROMs, electronic resources such as dictionaries and the communication and information offered on the Internet. Chapelle talks about some factors that affect CALL's programs: configuring learning through technology, learner autonomy and teacher education, then it present some descriptive studies of technology use. Nowadays, the mobile devices have become more popular than before and mobile learning helps a lot "linking people in real world and virtual worlds, creating learning communities between people on the move, providing expertise on demand, and supporting a lifetime of learning" (Sharples, Milrad  Arnedillo-Sánchez, & Vavoula, 2009, p. 2.) The technology of mobile devices is fascinating and attracting a lot of users and according to Pachler et al. (2010) this kind of technology facilities and provides new learning chances. Chinnery (2008) says that mobile technologies offer numerous practical uses in language learning and its learning environments might be face-to-face, distance, or online. Actually, this approach includes several kinds of devices besides cell phones, there are personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the iPods. There are several devices such as Apple iPhone devices, Android devices and Windows phone7 products, and this is not the only change that has appeared in the field of technology. Actually, there are thousands of applications which are available for all users and have various features and numerous usages. Actually, When we tie learning in the life of the student outside the academic institution, it becomes more permanent and this what mobile technology can provide.

     Barrs (2010) demonstrates how teachers can integrate and normalize technology to enhance their language classes. Barrs is an English language teacher and in his study he presents the idea of 'teaching techbox'. A ‘teaching techbox’ is the name the Barrs gives to his box of technological tools, including a mobile phone with camera, video camera, timer, bell, dice, and paper scraps, which he takes to each class. He uses all these items with his Japanese students who are learning English language. So, he makes his students to capture and store the board-work with their mobile phone, then they upload the pictures to their class's blog. The students also make a short presentation individually and he records the segment on his video camera, give the digital file to the student. So, students can analyze their work and evaluate themselves. Jameel (2013) shows the technological changes in Saudi Arabia and demonstrates the advantages of using mobile devices. He has conducted a survey to analyze the performance of mobile assisted language learners and non-mobile assisted learners, which proves a significant difference  between them at the level of vocabulary. Jameel mentions some reasons that show why the performance of mobile assisted language learners is better these reasons are: a) learners frequently revise the new vocabulary, b) mobile devices are more handy, and c) with the ease of internet students or learners can check any information whenever and wherever they want.

 

 

Methodology

 

Procedure

     The data of this paper based on a distributed questionnaire among English language students of King Khalid University. The students were introduced to the topic by a short introduction about the impact of technology on the language learning and teaching. Then the questionnaire were distributed among them and collected after the filling up. The questionnaire consists of two parts. The first part tries to investigate the students' attitudes toward the use of mobile devices as an educational tool and how these devices help the students to learn English language. The second part of the questionnaire investigates the challenges and some difficulties that face the students when they use mobile devices for learning purposes.

Subjects

Students of English language department are the subjects of this paper. Thirty students voluntarily helped to collect the data and they are from different levels. Some of the students are from advanced levels while the others are beginners.

Results and Data analysis

           After collecting the data I have analyzed them to show the students' attitudes toward using technology to help them in language learning. EFL learners are using different mobile devices which provide very advanced technology. IPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices are the most popular devices that students use. These devices support several types of applications that are used for language learning. The following table shows the percentages of EFL learners' opinions about using technology to learn languages.

 

 

 

 

 

Items	Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
1. The use of mobile devices facilitates the process of language learning.	50%	50%	0%	0%	0%
2. Portability is an important property of mobile devices.	30%	63%	0%	7%	0%
3. The use of mobile devices can create interactive learning environments.	40%	43%	7%	10%	0%
4. The multimedia used in mobile devices are useful for EFL learning.	36%	37%	7%	20%	0%
5. I am highly dependent on my mobile device.	36%	27%	0%	27%	10%
6. Mobile devices can be used to learn different language skills.	63%	23%	7%	7%	0%
7. The use of mobile devices for language learning is cost-effective.	30%	50%	10%	7%	3%
8. The use of mobile devices for language learning is time-efficient.	27%	46%	0%	20%	7%
9. Mobile devices can be connected to the Internet at any time.	54%	30%	3%	10%	3%
10. Mobile devices provide me with ubiquitous language learning opportunities.	40%	43%	0%	10%	7%

Figure.1 EFL learners’ attitudes toward the use of mobile devices for language learning

When the EFL learners were asked whether the use of mobile devices facilitates the process of language or not 50% of them agree and the rest of them strongly agree. 63% percentage of the students agrees on that Portability is considered an important property of mobile devices. Most of the students agree and strongly agree on that mobile devices can create an interactive learning environment. When the students were asked about the applications of mobile devices, whether most of them are useful in language learning or not 73 % percentage of the students agreed on this. Actually, there are 20% percentage of the students think that not every application support the process of language learning because there are a huge number of these applications are used for various purposes but they are not educational tools. One point of the questionnaire tries to know if EFL learners highly dependent on their devices or not and the answers of the respondents are different. 63% percentage of the students agrees and strongly agrees while 27% percentage of them disagrees because they are using their PCs or electronic dictionaries. 86% percentage of the students thinks that they can develop their language skills by using the technology of mobile devices. 80% percentage of the students thinks that the use of mobile devices does not cost money while the rest of them disagree and strongly disagree. When the students were asked about if the use of mobile devices can save money or not 27% percentage of the students disagree and strongly disagree. 84% percentage of the students agree and strongly agrees on that mobile devices are useful for browsing the internet at any time. Finally, most of the students agree on that mobile devices offer me with suitable learning opportunities.

Items	Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
1. The small screen size of mobile devices	30%	23%	7%	40%	0%
2. Slow Internet speed	17%	36%	7%	40%	0%
3. Internet connectivity problems	23%	43%	0%	17%	17%
4. Students’ non-use of mobile phones	23%	23%	3%	44%	7%
5. High costs of mobile devices	17%	57%	3%	23%	0%
6. High cost of connectivity to the Internet	10%	70%	3%	10%	7%
7. Lack of skill/knowledge to use mobile devices for academic purposes.	20%	53%	3%	17%	7%
8. The usual use of mobile devices is different from the academic use.	13%	64%	3%	20%	0%
9. I can't use mobile devices for academic purposes.	20%	13%	0%	57%	10%
10. Lack of language learning mobile-based software and activities.	7%	57%	3%	30%	3%

Figure.2 EFL learners’ perspectives on the challenges to the use of mobile phones for LL.

The previous table shows the challenges that face the EFL learners when they are using mobile devices for language learning. One of the first challenges that could face EFL learners when they use their mobile devices is the small size of the screen. When the students were asked about their opinions about whether the small size of the screens could be a challenge or not 53% of them agree while 40% of the students think that the small size of the mobile devices' screens is not a problem. When students were asked about the Internet connection and if it could be a challenge 34% of them agree on that while the rest don’t. One of the obstacles that may face EFL learners is that students usually use their mobile devices for communication and entertaining but not for learning purposes. When students were asked about their opinions more than 46% of them agree on this while the rest don’t agree.

     Technology usually costs money and here in this part students say what they think and 80% percentage of the students say that internet connection is costly and 74% of them think that the devices themselves are also costly.  The lack of knowledge of using mobile for academic use might be a challenge and responding to this point 73% of the respondents agree and strongly agree. The respondents also were asked about if they can use their mobile devices for academic purposes and 67% agree while the rest disagree. Finally, the most important feature in the new technology is the wide range of the applications that could be found in the stores and markets of these devices. So, students were asked about their opinion about whether there is enough number of applications that support language learning and 64% of the students disagree and strongly disagree on this. Actually, this questionnaire tries to cover the students' attitudes toward technology and the challenges that may face them while using this technology.

Discussion and conclusion

     From the previous analysis, it is clear that students have a positive attitude toward using mobile devices and its applications for language learning. High percentages of the answers show that language learners benefit from the technology of mobile devices to enhance the learning process. The analysis proves that mobile devices can offer suitable learning opportunities and interactive learning environments. Mobile devices also help the learners to develop their language skills and facilitate the process of language learning.  The previous analysis also presents some of the challenges that face the learners when they use mobile devices. Some of the challenges students have agreed on them such as: the lack of knowledge to use MDs for academic purposes, mobile devices are costly, and the connectivity problems. While other challenges such as: the size of the screen and the low-speed of the internet, students have different opinions about them. Some of the learners think they could be obstacles while some of them think they are not. Further studies could be done in this field to investigate the kinds of applications that EFL learners use and how they use them. Such studies may illustrate more the impact of MALL in the field of education and language learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Ahmad, J. (2013, April 18). Dr. Jameel Ahmad, an Associate Professor on Mobile Assisted Language Learning in KSA [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ9Ob4cBWKE

Barrs, K. (2010). Simplifying the technological enhancement of language learning. Jaltcalljournal, 6(3), 251-258. Retrieved from  http://journal.jaltcall.org/articles/6_3_Barrs.pdf

Chapelle, C.A. (2008). Computer Assisted Language Learning. In B. Spolsky & F. M. Hult (Eds.),  The handbook of educational linguistics (pp. 585-595). Malden, USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Chinnery, G.M. (2006, January).  EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES Going to the MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning. Language Learning & Technology, 10, No.1, 9-16. Retrieved Sep. 28, 2014, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol10num1/emerging/default.html

Gholami, J., & Azarmi, G. (2012). An introduction to Mobile Assisted Language Learning. International Journal of Managment, IT and Engineering, 2(8), 1-9

Viberg, O., & Grönlund, Å. (2012). Mobile Assisted Language Learning: A Literature

               Review. In mLearn (pp. 9-16).

Jones, R.G. (2011). Emerging technologies mobile apps for language learning. Language Learning& Technologies, 15(2), 2-11. Retrieved from http://www.llt.msu.edu/issues/june2011/emerging.pdf

 

Appendix

Mobile Assisted Language Learning

The name:……………………..    Level:………………..

Which mobile device do you use/ have?............................

Part 1: EFL learners’ attitudes toward the use of mobile devices for language learning

Items	Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
1. The use of mobile devices facilitates the process of language learning.
2. Portability is an important property of mobile devices.
3. The use of mobile devices can create interactive learning environments.
4. The multimedia used in mobile devices is useful for EFL learning.
5. I  am highly dependent on my mobile device.
6. Mobile devices can be used to learn different language skills.
7. The use of mobile devices for language learning is cost-effective.
8. The use of mobile devices for language learning is time-efficient.
9. Mobile devices can be connected to the Internet at any time.
10. Mobile devices provide me with ubiquitous language learning opportunities.

 

Part 2:  EFL learners’ perspectives on the challenges to the use of mobile phones for language learning

Items	Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
1. The small screen size of mobile devices
2. Slow Internet speed
3. Internet connectivity problems
4. Students’ non-use of mobile phones
5. High costs of mobile devices
6. High cost of connectivity to the Internet
7. Lack of skill/knowledge to use mobile devices for academic purposes.
8. The usual use of mobile devices is different from the academic use.
9. I can't use mobile devices for academic purposes.
10. Lack of language learning mobile-based software and activities.